Mitt: No to gay marriage; children need a mother and father. Gay adoption? Fine.

[Politico]

It's not as complicated (or as contradictory) as most here are making it out to be:

1. A married, heterosexual, two-parent family is the best setting for raising a child.
2. Marriage should be used to encourage the best possible kind of setting for raising children.
3. (1) is not always possible, and it's OK to allow other kinds of families to raise children, even though these arrangements are less than ideal.

The problem with the position is that empirical evidence demonstrates that a least the "heterosexual" part of point one is bunk, but that's not really the point being discussed here.

I think Nix pretty much has it right here. Best does not mean only, especially for a person like Mitt who often sees issues in shades of gray rather than black and white. His shading of the issues is exactly what gets him in trouble with the base, but it's generally a good quality for a top administrator. Top execs who treat all issues in a black and white fashion box themselves into positions that hurt their organizations. Mitt will struggle throughout the campaign as he tries to produce simple sound bites while recognizing internally the complexity of an issue.

This.

[Politico]

Objection!

Folks, I believe that what we are seeing right now is a very rare specimen: I think this is a living, breathing Politicus romneyi, commonly known as the Michigan-New Hampshire-Massachusetts-Utah Etch-a-Sketch.

I told you guys that Romney would triangulate like nobody's business. Social issues are off the table even though Romney is going to please his base with conservative judges after he becomes POTUS. In the meantime, Romney is gonna find a way to keep this about the economy, and the base has every reason to come out for Romney without being vocal about social issues to such an extent it turns off independents from Mitt. The last thing the base wants is four more years of Obama. Romney is a heck of a lot more conservative than Obama, which pleases Republicans, but Romney's also a heck of a lot safer and toned down in rhetoric than most conservatives, which pleases independents. It's a winning combination.